Pay
Does your employer have to pay you for jury duty?
Choose the court, your days, your daily pay and the size of your employer: the tool applies the state law that decides whether wages continue.
Does your employer have to pay you?
New York: wages your employer must pay
$216
| Days covered by the law | 3 |
| Job protected | yes |
| Law | N.Y. Judiciary Law § 519 |
Employers with more than 10 employees may not withhold the first $72 of daily wages for the first 3 days of jury service; after that, pay may be withheld.
In most of the country, no: the law protects your job during jury service but leaves your pay to your employer. Federal law is the clearest case. 28 U.S.C. § 1875 forbids firing or threatening a permanent employee over federal jury service, yet the federal courts state plainly that no employer is required to keep paying a salary. Among the 50 states and DC, 9 go further and require at least some employers to keep paying wages: Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York and Tennessee. The duty is usually short, a few days, and some states limit it by staff size, cap the daily amount, or let the employer subtract the juror fee. Job protection is far wider: 51 of the 51 jurisdictions write it into their law. The tool above applies these rules to your own case, and each state page cites the section that sets them, read on October 29, 2026.
Jury pay on your federal tax return
Jury pay that stays taxable
$0
| Report on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8h | $120 |
| Deduct on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 24a | $120 |
IRS Publication 525 (2025): jury duty pay is income; the part you must give to an employer who kept paying your salary is an adjustment to income. Mileage refunds are not covered here.
Statutes and court pages read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
The states where wages continue
Each of these jurisdictions puts a pay duty on employers. Read the detail: a duty for "the first three days" ends on day four, and a duty limited to employers above a staff size leaves small firms out. Where a statute lets the employer subtract the juror fee, the worker ends up with the same total as a normal day, not more.
| State | What the employer must pay | Law |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Full-time employees keep their usual pay while on jury duty; employers cannot make them use vacation, sick or unpaid leave. | Ala. Code §§ 12-16-8, 12-16-8.1 |
| Colorado | Employers must pay regular wages up to $50 per day for the first 3 days of service to regularly employed jurors (including part-time/temporary workers employed 3+ months). | C.R.S. §§ 13-71-126, 13-71-134 |
| Connecticut | Employers must pay full-time employees (30+ hours/week) their regular wages for the first 5 days of jury service; no employer-size threshold. | Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 51-247, 51-247a |
| District of Columbia | Full-time employees working in DC are entitled to their usual pay (less the juror fee) for up to 5 days of service; employers with 10 or fewer employees are exempt. | D.C. Code § 15-718(c); D.C. Code § 11-1913 |
| Louisiana | Employers must grant up to one day of paid jury leave (no loss of wages or leave); beyond that, pay is not required. Firing for jury service is banned, with fines of $100 to $1,000 per employee. | La. R.S. 23:965 |
| Massachusetts | Every employer must pay regular wages for the first 3 days (including part-time, temporary and casual staff); a court can excuse an employer for extreme financial hardship, in which case the state pays up to $50 a day. | M.G.L. c. 234A §§ 48, 49, 61 |
| Nebraska | Employers may not dock pay for jury service; they may only reduce wages by the $35/day juror fee (expense reimbursements excluded). Applies to all employers. | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1674 |
| New York | Employers with more than 10 employees may not withhold the first $72 of daily wages for the first 3 days of jury service; after that, pay may be withheld. | N.Y. Judiciary Law § 519 |
| Tennessee | Employers with 5 or more regular employees must pay usual wages for time spent serving and traveling, minus the juror fee. This does not apply to employers with fewer than 5 regular employees or to temporary workers employed under 6 months. | Tenn. Code Ann. § 22-4-106 |
Job protection without pay
Everywhere else the law usually stops at the job. Where a statute protects jurors, it is unlawful to fire you, and often to threaten or demote you, because you were summoned. The wording differs by state, so the employer row of each state page quotes the section. Every jurisdiction in our data protects jurors from being fired for serving.
How to raise it with your employer
Send a short written note with a copy of the summons as soon as it arrives, and ask which leave code your absence will use. If your state requires wages, name the statute from your state page; employers outside the payroll department rarely know it. Ask the clerk for proof of attendance each day you serve. If you are sent home early, the court may expect you to call the jury line for the next day rather than return to work, so check before telling your manager you will be back.
If an employer refuses to pay wages the law requires or punishes you for serving, the remedy is in the same statute: a complaint to the state labor department, a civil action for lost wages, or both, depending on the state. You can also tell the jury office of the court that summoned you.
Taxes when your employer keeps paying
When an employer continues your full salary and asks for the juror fee in return, the fee still appears as income, and the amount you repaid is deducted, as IRS Publication 525 explains. The second tool on this page shows both lines. Without such an arrangement, the fee is simply extra taxable income.